Installing a Kenwood DNX5140, anyone want pictures?

[bluebelle]

Hey folks, I am sort of new to Toyota Nation, I have posted a bit before, I have a 2005 Tacoma that I bought new, but now I have added to my Toyota showroom with my wife's 2007 4Runner Sport V8. Anyways, I just picked up a Kenwood DNX5140 (2009 model superceding the 5120), Kenwood backup camera, PAC SWI-JACK, and Ipod adaptor cable. I will be installing it all in the 4Runner in the next couple of weeks (as soon as Crutchfield ships the dash kit and Ipod cable) and was wondering if anyone out there would be interested in any pictures of the install or the final product.

I found lots of information on other sites where guys have posted their step-by-step installations, and it has helped me prepare for what I'm getting into. Just wanna help anyone else out that may be doing the same install in the future here on Toyota Nation. I have posted in the 4Runner section as well, hope that's ok. Thanks.

[Biggg72]

yes.

[jpntaka]

i want to see!!

[bluebelle]

well, i got a better response here than I did in the 4Runner only section, so i guess i will start taking some pictures of my progress....once i start...i'm still waiting on my ipod adaptor cable to be shipped from crutchfield, no sense pulling everything apart just to have to pull it apart again. so, once i have pics/progress i will post again. it sucks having all this new stuff sitting here in boxes and not being able to start installing it...lol.

[bluebelle]

So, I got tired of waiting for my Ipod control cable, so I went ahead and installed what I have, the headunit and the backup camera. Went in quite easily, took me about 7hrs total including running wires, splicing into the reverse circuit and reassembling all the panels I took off to wire the backup camera. So far, I am very happy with it. Once I figured out most of the functions and where to find them, it seems to work quite well, and the Garmin navigation is great. The only thing I can't get to work is the backup camera when not in reverse, it's supposed to come on when you hold the NAV button for more than 1 second, but I just get a blank screen. The setting is set to this, but doesn't show an image. Anyone know what could be wrong?? I wired both the backup camera's and the headunit's reverse input wires to the reverse circuit, is that right? I'll have to remove the headunit again when my cable arrives in the next week or two, so maybe I'll do some more research on this camera issue in the meantime.

I took photos of my install etc., but I don't have them on a URL so apparently I can't post them. But nonetheless, I would highly recommend this unit to anyone in the market for one...

[bluebelle]

Ok, here goes, this is my first picture post, so hope I can figure out what I'm doing....

The package:


The wiring harness spliced together with the SWI:


Where I mounted the backup camera (Kenwood):



Routing the camera wiring harness:


Splicing, mounting the control unit, powering from the fuse box: (sorry blurry pic)



Took the dash apart, installed the harness:


Transferred factory brackets to DNX5140 with Metra dash kit parts:


Completed, reassembled and installed, looking good:



Again, I am very happy with this, I'm actually thinking of getting another one for my Tacoma....hmmm where can I come up with that kind of money all over again? lol. My Tacoma now makes due with a 3.5" Magellan...Hope this post turns out ok.

[toysyoda]

man...i love pictures. especially digital pictures.

[Biggg72]

hey what was that swi jack thing, and what wire did you run straight into the fuse panel?

[bluebelle]

Originally Posted by Biggg72

hey what was that swi jack thing, and what wire did you run straight into the fuse panel?

The SWI-JACK is a steering wheel control interface so the factory steering wheel controls can be used with the aftermarket headunit (JACK stands for JVC Alpine Clarion Kenwood : the compatible units for this model).

The wire that I put directly in the fusebox is the accessory power wire for my backup camera. I just found that one of the unused fusebox positions is switched ignition, so I wired up a terminal and plugged it in there, the circuit has it's own inline fuse anyway so there shouldn't be an issue if there's a short.

[Slaughter]

Very nice! Pictures of installs are always appreciated

What do you think of the unit?

[bluebelle]

Now that I've used it for a while, it seems to be pretty good. I don't like the basic layout of the controls, the excessively complicated menus and toolbars, etc. but once I read the book and played with it for a while, it's not bad. My wife (who primarily drives the vehicle) is not as impressed, it's definitely not simple to operate, like the factory radio. She's getting used to it, now that I've given her some tutoring.

I got the Ipod controller cable and installed it as well, that works really well, same issues with getting to know the menus and controls, but no lag time and even shows the album art on the screen when playing.

I think Kenwood could have definitely made this thing easier to use and figure out, but it works well once you do...

The Garmin GPS function is excellent...which is mostly why I chose the Kenwood over any other brand.

A note to anyone installing an aftermarket head unit into a 4Runner: make sure you connect the power antenna wires on the wiring harness....even though the vehicle does not have a power antenna, it needs 12V applied to the antenna signal booster...that whole "diversity antenna" thing where only one cable can be plugged in to the aftermarket stereo. I didn't do this at first, then connected it the second time it was apart, huge difference and now I can actually set the AM presets (not that I listen to AM radio anyway). I was finding I was losing FM reception before, so that booster thing is important to power up...

[pchenderson]

bluebelle-

I am in the process of getting a 2008 4Runner limited and have been scoping out the Kenwood DNX5140.

Regarding the steering wheel controls: Do they work well? Can you control things like the ipod menu, track, or just volume? (I'm assuming my Limited will have the same steering wheel buttons as your 2007 Sport).

Overall it looks like a nice stereo unit. Thanks for the great post.

[bluebelle]

The steering wheel controls work pretty well, but compared to original there is a slight delay in feedback when pressing them. It is easy to become accustomed to, but definitely not instant response like with the factory radio. It's almost like there's a small time delay while the unit translates the input before sending it to the headunit. You can program them for various functions, I kept them pretty much the same as stock, ie. volume up/down, track up/down, and used the "mode" button as the "source" button. This just toggles through the various sources (tuner/ipod/cd/dvd, etc.)

Hope this helps.

[DBADTOY]

Hey I am putting this in my 4runner now. How did you hook into the parking break? and what did you do with the mute wire?

[bluebelle]

I grounded the parking brake wire from the head unit, so I didn`t actually tie into the parking brake circuit at all, because this is the bypass method. So the head unit is fully functional without being parked (also illegal). I don`t recall that I did anything with the mute wire because I don`t have any bluetooth connections so I don`t think I needed it hooked up. I will be installing the BT200 bluetooth unit in the coming weeks, so hopefully that won`t be required with that, I guess I will soon find out.